As head coach Liam Coen continues to build out his coaching staff, the Jacksonville Jaguars have requested to interview Austin Gund from the Buffalo Bills for their offensive line coach opening, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
This interview request comes on the heels of the Bucs denying the Jaguar’s request to interview offensive line coach Kevin Carberry and assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci.
Gund has been the Bills’ assistant offensive line coach for the last two seasons. Before that, he was an offensive quality control coach in Buffalo during the 2022 season and a graduate assistant at Wake Forest the two years prior.
This past season, the Bills’ offensive line allowed the third-lowest pressure rate in football, according to Pro Football Reference, and ranked fourth in ESPN’s pass-block win rate metric. In the run game, Buffalo finished 11th, averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Coen was to the point in his introductory press conference, saying that the offensive line play had to improve.
“I think we would all agree that it needs to improve,” said Coen of the offensive line.
Of course, we all know the importance of giving the quarterback time in the pocket. But while priority No. 1 for Coen is to help get Trevor Lawrence back on track, a key element in accomplishing that is having a strong run game to lean on–just as the Bucs’ offense did under Coen in 2024.
“I think that when you look at, first and foremost, the offensive side of the ball, you want that unit and that group–it’s the first thing that when you break the huddle the defense sees,” added Coen. “I want that to mean something. We want that to mean something and it will.
“That’s a mentality, that’s personnel, that’s scheme, that’s technique, that’s fundamentals, and that’s attitude. That’s something that we need to make sure we instill.”
